CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK

By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer

Put 30 or so people from one organization in a room,
and even if they do not endorse candidates, even if they
do not hand out local political contributions, even if
they do not necessarily have Democratic leanings, Lt.
Gov. John Carney and Treasurer Jack Markell will come.

This is hand-to-hand combat, political style, the
rivals for the Democratic nomination for governor going
after voters one handshake at a time.

It is the way Delaware voters expect to be courted.
It is also the mark of the intensity of this race for
Carney and Markell, particularly with the Republicans
still floundering without a credible candidate and the
governorship perhaps to be settled not so long from now,
in the Democratic primary in September on the other side
of summer.

The host for their cordial joint appearance was the
American Council of Engineering Companies of Delaware,
meeting Wednesday at lunchtime at the Christiana Hilton,
fittingly not far from the spaghetti-like intersection
of Interstate 95 and Delaware 1, the sort of roadwork
that keeps the engineers working.

The organization represents 29 firms with somewhere
between 650 and 700 employees. The engineers listened as
first Markell and then Carney made their case for
governor -- Markell with his "I'm running for governor
because I think Delaware can do better, and honestly, I
believe we have to," and Carney with his "I learned from
my parents that the most important thing you can do in
life is help other people."

Then the engineers made clear they did not invite
Carney and Markell to their lunch out of a sense of
civic obligation or as some sort of academic exercise or
for entertainment purposes. They asked urgent questions
about the state's finances, health care and a shortage
of engineers, because their livelihood was at stake. The
election was as critical to them as their next contract.

The engineers especially were distressed about the
state's depleted Transportation Trust Fund, which pays
for construction, but there was no good answer, even
though both candidates acknowledged that Delaware cannot
build its economy and accommodate its growing population
without having the proper roads to get people to their
jobs.

Markell rattled off a list of unpopular solutions --
raising tolls or gas taxes, eliminating projects or
leasing roads to private contractors -- and then said,
"All of them are really hard."

Carney lamented how untenable gas taxes are and then
asserted, "We have to have a reliable revenue stream."

The engineers were too practical to expect miracles.
Instead, a little understanding would do. One of them
told Markell, "I guarantee if you're governor, you'll
hear from us again."

His tone seemed a lot like a warning to whoever moved
into Woodburn, the Governor's House in Dover -- We're
engineers, and we know where the foundation is.

# # #

Delaware is such a small state that there are only so
many mailing lists to go around.

It was not really surprising that an invitation for a
fund-raiser for Karen Weldin Stewart, who is running
against Gene Reed Jr. for the Democratic nomination for
insurance commissioner, was sent to the law firm of John
Brady, the Republican candidate for insurance
commissioner.

Surely, Brady has no interest in contributing to
Stewart's campaign? "Not directly," he cracked.